Astoria softball, Knappa baseball advance in first round of playoffs
A downpour and a postponement had no effect on Astoria High School softball as they cruised to a 16-6 victory over Marist Catholic in the 4A playoffs opening round.
The win sends Astoria into the quarterfinals for the second straight season.
Though fans had the luxury of umbrellas and tarps, the softball players for Astoria and Marist had to endure a rainstorm Tuesday afternoon. It didn’t slow down the Fishermen’s offense as they scored seven runs in the first inning and sent 11 hitters to the plate. Due to rain, the game was postponed after the first inning and resumed Wednesday afternoon.
After the restart, Astoria’s bats picked up right where they left off. The Fishermen scored four runs in the second inning to take an 11-1 lead. Though Marist battled back to put six runs on the board, Astoria were never threatened. The Fishermen put up 15 hits, saw huge games from the top of their lineup and had every position player reach base.
The one-through-four hitters of Kya Lindell, Hailey Svensen, Nayomi Holmstedt and Shelby Bruney combined for 11 of the 15 hits and nine of the 16 runs batted in. Fionna Duryea led the team with four runs batted in and Taryen Wray had a pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the sixth to help Astoria mercy rule Marist.
Maddie Wilkin pitched through four errors and gave up just three earned runs in six innings of work, while striking out 11.
Astoria was scheduled to play Marshfield on Friday afternoon.
Knappa gets team effort in win
Wednesday was a team effort for Knappa High School baseball. The Loggers saw four pitchers take the hill and eight players have at least one run batted in.
As the No. 1 seed in the 2A playoffs, the Loggers hosted Illinois Valley and made quick work of them, winning 14-4. Knappa scored four runs in the first and seven runs in the third to go up 11-0. The Loggers had a slip up in the fifth, giving up four runs, but walked the game off in the bottom of the sixth to advance.
Jaxon Dietrichs, Lukas Masters, Kutter Ball and Oliver Stevens combined for the win on the mound. The foursome allowed just six hits and struck out five.
At the plate, Braxton Hill and Gavin Barendse led the way with two hits each. Jude Miller, Hill, Treven Moreland, Dietrichs, Ball, Karson Casper, Barendse and Stevens all had at least one RBI in a balanced offensive showing.
Knappa was scheduled to play Kennedy on Friday afternoon.
